Middletown Borough Council approves upgrades to borough's IT infrastructure

Middletown Borough Council approved a plan on Tuesday night
to upgrade the borough's information technology infrastructure, another facet
of the state's Early Intervention Program.

The borough entered the Early Intervention Plan last year
with the state Department of Economic Development in an effort to reduce the
municipality's structural deficit. The IT infrastructure upgrade is the program's
second phase for the borough.

A planned IT infrastructure upgrade for Middletown means, among other things, a state-of-the-art network replacement of-the art replacement for the 1960s phone system currently used in the municipal building at 60 West Emaus St.Dan Gleiter, PennLive

The project involves a modernization of the borough's IT
infrastructure, much of which dates back to the 1960s. It will provide
state-of-the-art fiber conductivity between the borough's office buildings, an
enhanced disaster relief system, and "a very solid foundation for our future
needs," borough manager Tim Konek said.

"The fiber optics will be great savings over the current
1960s phone system," borough secretary Chris Courogen noted.

Project costs will be split on a 40/60 basis between the
borough and the state, with the state paying the larger portion. The borough's
cost is around $70,000, which will come from its capital improvement fund. Total
project cost is $132,000, with work performed by 2K Networking, Inc.,
Harrisburg.

The Early Intervention Plan's first phase involved the
borough's financial advisor, Mark Morgan of the Susquehanna Group, devising a
list of recommended actions for reducing the deficit, which stood at around
$1.5 million in January.

In May, Morgan
submitted a draft of the recommended actions for review by the state. Borough
officials still are awaiting the document's return from the state, Courogen
said on Tuesday.

After the draft is returned, Morgan will review the state's
comments before forwarding the proposed recommendations for approval by the
borough council.

The document will be available for public review after the
borough council's final approval.